Cleveland Browns top 10 quarterbacks in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
The Cleveland Browns are expected to have yet another starting quarterback in 2022, but who are the top 10 to ever play the position for them?
Heading into the 2022 season, the Cleveland Browns are once again turning the ball over to a new quarterback — or at least they will be when he’s cleared to play by the league. Deshaun Watson was added in a trade with the Houston Texans and while he’s facing a suspension, he’s under contract to be the leader of the franchise for the next five years.
With him coming in and replacing Baker Mayfield, it felt like a good time to once again look at all the former signal-callers in Northeast Ohio and select the 10 best to wear the orange and brown.
Cleveland Browns top QB all-time No. 10: Derek Anderson, 2006-2009
53. QB. 2006-2009. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. DerekAnderson. 10
Coming out of Oregon State in 2005, Derek Anderson was a sixth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens. However, he never made the team and was waived in late September. The next day, he was headed to Cleveland as the Browns brought in the 6-foot-6, 242-pounder.
He spent his rookie season on the bench and saw no action at all. Then in year two, he played in five games with three starts — with Cleveland losing each of those starts. In 2007, however, he unexpectedly put up a great campaign.
Cleveland had just added rookie Brady Quinn out of Notre Dame but Anderson wasn’t going to sit idly by and let the rookie show him up. He ended up winning the starting job over Charlie Frye and Quinn and led them to 10 wins in his 15 starts.
In those starts, he had 3,787 yards with 29 touchdowns and 19 picks. It was the best season the team had since making the playoffs in the 2002 campaign, although the Browns did just miss the postseason under Anderson.
Anderson ended up playing four years in Cleveland and was 16-18 as a starter with 7,083 yards, 46 touchdowns, and 45 picks. That might not sound great, but considering how bad the team has been from 1999 until recently, Anderson deserves a lot of credit for helping them field a competitive team for a brief spell.